The Confirmed Truth Behind the Rumored 430-Pound Deer

The urban myth surrounding the 430-pound deer can finally be lifted.

If you’ve been on Facebook lately, I bet this image has come across your news feed at one time.

The original post states the buck weighed 430 pounds and was shot in Hartford, Michigan.

The picture first surfaced the Internet in 2009, with various descriptions stating it weighed anywhere between 400-500 pounds. The location of where it was shot has often changed, but the most popular description of the picture is that it’s a 430-pound deer shot Hartford, Michigan.

According to Snopes, a website that looks to factually settle Internet rumors, the facts surrounding this story have been unearthed.

The deer was actually shot on a Wisconsin game farm called Wilderness Whitetails in September, 2009. There is no official listed weight for the deer, but it certainly looks heavy.

The owner of the game farm had this to say:

Yes, it is a legitimate buck. I mean, we are a high-fence operation, I want to be clear about that, but this is a real buck. It was taken last September and weighed 420 pounds live-weight. The heaviest deer that’s ever been shot on our place. Our client hunted this deer for 11 days. We’d had very warm weather and this buck just would leave his bed in a cedar swamp during the day. But it finally cooled off, and the hunter caught the buck making its way from the swamp to a food plot. He was so pumped, he just went nuts. He was kissing the deer.

Now everyone can finally know the actual truth surrounding this buck that has gone viral on various occasions.